After successfully promoting music CDs and the new movie Akeelah and the Bee in its stores, Starbucks is signing an agreement today with the William Morris Agency "to find more movie and book projects to market," according to today's New York Times. The giant coffee retailer plans to offer one book this year.

Chairman Howard Schultz emphasized that the company wants to sell books, movies and music to extend the brand and add to the Starbucks experience. "It's more than just coffee, it's human connection," he told the paper. "In terms of content, the linkage is tied to that aspiration. We want to add texture to the brand, and value to the experience."

As for particular projects, Starbucks is "looking for quality and substance," Schultz continued. "We want to see our name associated with the kind of music, literature and movies that people will say, 'I'm glad Starbucks brought this to the marketplace.' "

The company is also considering what Schultz called self-publishing. He commented, "I want to bring books to the marketplace that perhaps can't be found." Oddly his example was The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, the long-running bestseller that, of course, has had no problem finding its market.

In any case, the impetus for the move came in part from a deluge of material from film distributors after the promotion of Akeelah and the Bee. In 2004 Starbucks had its biggest success in music promotion with the Ray Charles album Genius Loves Company, which sold 775,000 copies.